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Sentillion is no longer one of the little guys on the block. The Andover, MA-based provider of healthcare software announced this month that it officially became a subsidiary of technology giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), a development that Sentillion founder Robert Seliger says will accelerate adoption of the firm’s software around the globe.

Seliger, who had been CEO of the firm, is staying on as general manager to lead the Sentillion business, which is now part of Microsoft Health Solutions Group. Sentillion, which is by some measures the largest operation to be acquired by the healthcare unit of Microsoft, has developed technology that is supposed to make it easier for staff in hospitals to access multiple software systems without having to stop and log in to each application. And while financial details aren’t being disclosed, it’s clear that Microsoft is investing in this technology to make its healthcare software user-friendly and practical for busy doctors and nurses.

Seliger tells me that, besides his new laptop from Microsoft and other planned upgrades at Sentillion’s main office in Massachusetts, there are few visible differences at the firm since he began reporting to Redmond, WA. Microsoft’s purchase of Sentillion followed a licensing agreement between the companies made in April to use some of Sentillion’s access-management technology for Microsoft’s Amalga Unified Intelligence System. Amalga aggregates data from separate sources within hospitals’ IT systems, enabling clinicians to, say, get a single view of a patient’s allergies, prescriptions, and lab tests without having to search the separate systems where those data live.

“We’ve known Sentillion for a long time, and the timing worked out really well for us to push forward with a deeper relationship,” said John Donaldson, director of business development and strategy for Microsoft Health Solutions Group, who has been dispatched from Redmond to oversee the integration of Sentillion into its new owner. “We’re anticipating learning a lot from Sentillion’s experience in the [healthcare] market.”

Microsoft has been providing software to customers in the healthcare sector for decades, yet it wasn’t until … Next Page »